


A Week in the Life of Lisa Hunt

by GoAwayOlivia



Series: ParentHood (Alternate NSO Timeline) [3]
Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Bat Family, Family, Family Fluff, Fluff, Gen, I'm actually suffocating in fluff, SO MUCH FLUFF
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-15
Updated: 2018-06-15
Packaged: 2019-05-23 13:19:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14935037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoAwayOlivia/pseuds/GoAwayOlivia
Summary: Lisa finds herself with a very big family.





	A Week in the Life of Lisa Hunt

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a while! I have been BUSY and the writer's block has been pretty bad, guys. But I've sort of turned a corner this week, and I hope I'm done with it for good, but I make no promises. 
> 
> I promised more ParentHood was coming, and here we are! As always, thank you [chibi_nightowl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chibi_nightowl) for being the most wonderful beta ever!!
> 
> Hope you all enjoy!

Lisa’s day starts like a lot of her days do, with the awful gripping image of her mother still and bleeding at the bottom of the apartment stairs. She remembers the red pooling around her head and the way her eyes were open, staring at nothing. She sees her papa’s face, angry and shouting. He puts his hands through walls, through mirrors, through her. Her body goes cold and she can’t move. She wants to scream, but her mouth won’t open. He’s coming closer and suddenly it’s not her father anymore, but the other man. The one who snatched her into the dark and whispered to her as she fell asleep. Again, she tries to scream, but no sound comes out.

She comes awake silently, breathing as quietly as she can while her heart pounds. She listens, but she doesn’t hear him. Which means he’s asleep or he’s just not there. When he’s awake, it’s easy to tell where he is, usually because he’s shouting.

She opens her eyes, but the dark room looks nothing like the dirty walls of her bedroom, and it doesn’t stink like her home does either.

It takes a moment, but then the memories settle and her stiff limbs ease as she relaxes into the sofa. Her papa is gone. He’s gone and he’s never coming back. Jay promised her. She isn’t in her old home, she’s at Jay’s and she’s sleeping on the soft green sheets he put on his comfy couch. Green, because that’s her favorite color and Jay got them just for her. She feels them under her fingertips and her heart calms down a little.

Then a new flash of fear hits her, and she throws back the covers and is off the couch before she even realizes it. She just… she needs to be sure he’s there. She waits for her eyes to adjust better to the darkness before tiptoeing over to the opening to Jay’s bedroom. He sits up before she has to say anything. He always knows whenever she’s there somehow.

“Hey, Princess,” he says softly, and she’s sure he just woke up. “Have a nightmare?”

Lisa’s heart is still racing a bit, and her throat feels tight—too tight for words. It feels like she can’t talk so she nods her head instead and Jay reaches over to turn on the lamp. The light makes her feel a bit better and she lets out a little breath as he stands up and moves her way. He’s tall. Much taller than her papa had been. And stronger too. Lisa knows that if her papa ever shows up, Jay could hurt him easily. She’s glad.

The first time she saw the Red Hood, the night the bad men came and forced her, Alex and the others out of their safe place, she’d been so scared. More scared of him than she’d been of the bad men. Even after he brought them food and blankets and made them warm. She still remembers what Alex told her that night, when she’d been too scared to sleep with the Red Hood watching above their heads.

 _“There’s bad scary and there’s good scary, Lisa. And him? He’s the_ good _scary. You don’t have to worry. Right now,_ w _e’re the safest we’ve ever been in our lives.”_

_“Good scary?” she asked quietly, because that didn’t make sense. When was scary ever good?_

_“Yeah. Good scary. Bad scary people? They scare us. Good scary people? They scare the bad people. We don’t have to be scared of Hood. Anyone who tries to hurt us though—_ that’s _who needs to be scared. Get it?”_

She’d nodded at the time, but it had still taken her a little while to get it. Now she understands. Jay Jay is scary. He’s big and tall and really strong. His face is frowny and sometimes when he talks, it sounds like he’s growling. Like a really mean dog. But she likes it. Even when he’s mad, she’s not scared of him, because Jay’s not dangerous to her. He’s dangerous for all the bad people out there. And being right next to him, it’s the safest she’s ever felt.

“Alright, Princess, how about we read some?” Jay asks and Lisa nods, hopping back onto the couch as he turns on some of the lamps in the room. Then she watches him move into the kitchen, putting milk on the stove and her stomach jumps a little because that means he’s making her hot chocolate. Her face wants to smile, but it’s too soon after the dream.

“Okay,” he says after a few minutes, handing her mug of hot chocolate. She smells it happily. “Do you know what you want to read?”

Lisa frowns a little because her throat still feels tight and though the words are there, she doesn’t really want to make them leave her mouth.

“Not up to talking right now?” he guesses, and Lisa shakes her head.

“That’s okay. You don’t have to,” he tells her soothingly, and she’s relieved she doesn’t have to try. “How about we keep going with _the Chronicles of Narnia_? That one sound good to you?”

She nods. She likes that one. She likes Lucy and the talking beavers, but she doesn’t like all the snow or Edmund or the Witch.

“ _Now we must go back to Mr. and Mrs. Beaver and the three other children_ ,” Jay Jay begins to read, his voice rumbling lowly. It sounds nice and makes her feel cozy like it always does. She scoots a little closer, leaning against his side as she holds her hot chocolate in both hands, happy about how warm her fingers feel. He rubs her head a little and keeps reading. “ _As soon as Mr. Beaver said, “There’s no time to lose,” everyone began bundling themselves into coats…”_

She listens closely, and the nightmare disappears from her mind completely, replaced instead by snowy white Narnia and Jay Jay’s voice.

 _They need Jay Jay_ , she thinks as Father Christmas passes out gifts to Lucy and the others. Jay knows what to do in winter. And he could beat the witch for them. He could beat _anyone._ She kind of wants to tell him so, but she also doesn’t want to talk yet. She snuggles a little closer instead and lets him take her mostly empty cup and set it on the small table in front of the couch. Tomorrow she’ll be back at the orphanage, but Jay will still come to see her, even if it’s only at her window before she goes to sleep. She won’t have him there to make her feel better when she wakes up from bad dreams, but she doesn’t want to think about that now. Instead, she listens.

 

*****

 

She always sees Ms. Shay on Mondays after school. Sometimes she sees her on Thursdays too, but lately it’s just been Mondays. Lisa doesn’t mind it much. She likes Ms. Shay.  

“How was your weekend?” she asks as Lisa sits in the comfy chair. She always starts out in the comfy chair, but she usually doesn’t stay in it the whole time. Not with the puzzles and coloring pages on the small table in front of her.

“Good! I like Jay’s,” she tells her as she holds her legs straight in front of her and rocks her feet this way and that. Jay bought her new shoes on Saturday because her other ones were too small already. Jay said that meant she was growing big and tall. She wants to be as tall as Aunt Kori. She wants to fly too.

She looks up at Ms. Shay and smiles happily. It’s important that they know she likes staying with Jay or else they might not let her keep going.

“Did you have any more bad dreams?” Ms. Shay asks next, just like she always does.

Lisa nods. “Just one. But it was okay because Jay was there.”

“Oh? What did Jay do after your bad dream?”

“He made me hot chocolate and read to me and he said it was okay that I didn’t want to talk.” She lets her legs drop down and looks at the paper and crayons on the desk. She debates for a moment and then slides out of the chair and onto the floor. She wants to draw Titus, so she pushes the puzzle boxes aside and grabs a sheet of paper and a couple of crayons.

Ms. Shay gets out of her seat and sits down on one of the cushions she keeps in front of the table. She grabs her own sheet of paper and a blue crayon from the box and starts making an ocean. “Jay’s very smart. Hot chocolate helps fix a lot of things.”

“He’s the smartest,” Lisa nods seriously.

Ms. Shay smiles at her, but then asks, “Did you dream of your father again?”

Lisa frowns down at the beginnings of her Titus drawing. Damian’s was much better. It’s annoying. Damian is better at _everything_. She turns the paper over and starts again, determined to get it right this time.

“Lisa?” Ms. Shay prompts gently. “Did you dream of your father again?”

She doesn’t want to answer, so she just nods. And then, because Ms. Shay is nice to her, she does speak. “And the other man.”

“Do you want to tell me about the dreams?”

She shakes her head. She doesn’t want to think about it anymore. And besides, “Jay promised they can’t hurt me.”

“Jay’s right,” Ms. Shay tells her seriously. “Your dad won’t ever be able to see you again. You don’t have to worry about either of them.”

Lisa frowns at the word dad. “Papa isn’t my dad,” she tells Ms. Shay seriously. “Jay is my dad.”

Ms. Shay tilts her head curiously. “What do you mean?”

“Papa is papa. I don’t want him though. He’s bad and mean and scary. Jay is good and nice. Jay’s dad. Papa is Papa and Papa is gone.”

“I see,” Ms. Shay smiles. “That makes sense. Jay makes you feel safe and that’s what dads are supposed to do.”

Lisa nods, happy she gets it.

“What about the Red Hood?” she asks, and Lisa almost rolls her eyes like Damian and Matt always do. She’s tried to explain good scary and bad scary to the adults at the orphanage, but they don’t really get it. They all think the Red Hood is bad scary. She thinks maybe if they understand that Jay is the Red Hood they’d get that he really is _good_ scary. But Jay asked her not to tell and maybe they wouldn’t let her see him anymore if they knew. And that would be the worst thing ever, so she tries to explain it in a way they might get and then just pretends she doesn’t see him anymore.

“The Red Hood makes everyone safe. But Jay makes _me_ safe.”

Ms. Shay smiles. “I’m glad to hear it. How was school today?”

 

*****  
  
The Red Hood is kind of a secret at the orphanage. Well, everyone there knows about him. Even the adults know that he was taking care of them before they came here, but only some of the kids know he’s also Jay and they never mention it to any of the others. All the kids know the Red Hood still looks after them though, and even the ones who have never met him are happy. Sometimes they ask her to tell them stories about him, so Lisa tells stories from when she and the others were living at the warehouse. Alex tells the stories better though. But even Lisa tells stories better than _Matt_.

“So then the ball was zooming right at me! _Whooosh!_ Right at my face!” he says dramatically, waving his hands about and almost knocking over his juice. “And so I just reached up and caught it. Just like that! Blake Reed was so pissed I got him out! You should have seen his stupid face!”

“Uh huh,” Lisa says, not really paying attention. It’s the fifth time he’s told the story since it happened in PE and as much as she’s glad someone beat that jerk Blake Reed, she really doesn’t care anymore.

“It was the coolest thing ever!” he continues.

Jose groans beside him, but Mandy speaks up, making Matt puff out his chest. “Very cool.” It’s only Mandy’s second time to hear the story so she can be nicer to him about it than Lisa can.

“So then Reed was pissed, right? And he wanted to beat me up after school.”

Lisa looks up from her dinner because she hasn’t heard this part yet. Blake Reed is big and mean. Much bigger than Matt, even if they are both in the same grade. Blake was held back a couple of grades and can definitely beat up Matt if he wants to. But Matt doesn’t look like he’d gotten hit any so Lisa doesn’t worry too much.

“So then he found me at the bus stop after school. I tried to go early, but he went early too so he could find me. But before he could beat me up, Alex got off the bus and told Blake that he better not touch me because we got the Hood on our side. And he gave up! He left just like that!”

Mandy nods looking relieved and Lisa takes a huge bite of her roll. Most everyone at school knows not to mess with the orphanage kids or else you mess with the Red Hood. It’s nice because a lot of kids at school are mean.

“Want to play Sorry after dinner?” Jose asks, cutting Matt off before he can tell the story _again_.

“Yes,” Lisa answers immediately, partially because she doesn’t want Matt to tell the story again either, but mostly because Matt won last time and Lisa’s determined not to let it happen again. He’s the _worst_ winner.

“Okay,” Mandy agrees the same time Matt says, “Sure.”

“There’s only one rule,” Jose says seriously. “No telling the Reed story while we play.”

Lisa nods immediately, but Matt wails dramatically.

“But it flew at my face at like a hundred miles per hour, Jose! I could have _died_!”

“I was there!” Jose exclaims. “It was a good catch, but I’ve heard the story six times already!”

Lisa shakes her head in sympathy. “Poor Jose.”

Jose nods fervently. “Exactly! So no more story. And I call red!”

“Damn it!” Matt exclaims loudly prompting a sharp “Mr. Milton!” from Ms. Camille across the room.

“Sorry, Ms. Camille!” Matt calls back.

Lisa snickers and calls green.

“Blue,” Matt sighs.

“Yellow,” Mandy finishes happily. She never minds having yellow. The rest of them never want it.

“You ready to lose again, Lisa?” Matt smirks at her.

She growls, immediately angry. “ _You’re_ gonna lose!”

He grins and she wants to punch him. Just a little. The first time he sat with her was at breakfast the morning after Jay scared him. He walked right up to her and immediately asked a whole bunch of questions about the Red Hood. Had she ever seen him fight? Did he have any superpowers? What was he like? And a whole bunch of other stuff. Now that they’ve started school they have the same lunch period, so they sit together every day while Mandy and Jose sit together in the other lunch period. Lisa and Mandy have PE together while Jose and Matt have PE together, and she and Jose share recess while Mandy and Matt share the other recess. Then they all ride the orphanage bus together in the mornings and after school. It’s kind of nice. Matt is still a jerk sometimes, but he isn’t a bad jerk like Blake Reed. Although, she did like it better back when he was giving her his pudding cups every day. She _definitely_ likes it better when he loses whatever game they’re playing.

“You’re all going to lose!” Jose declares loudly.

“Nah uh!” she and Matt protest immediately.

In the end, Mandy wins, but that’s okay. She’s only a bad winner to the boys. But they do have to listen to Matt and Jose’s whining the whole way up the stairs when it’s over.

 

*****  
  
“Are we going to Grandpa Alfred’s today?” Lisa asks on Saturday morning. She’s not sure. That’s what they usually do on Saturdays, but not always. And Jay looks weird today. He was weird last week too, but she thinks it’s maybe because of Grandpa Bruce. Uncle Roy said that they fight sometimes 

She frowns, worried. When Jay fought with him after Scarecrow, he’d left for a _whole week_. Lisa does _not_ want that to happen again.

“Yeah we are, Carrot-top,” Jay answers. He pauses for a moment before kneeling down in front of her. She feels nervous in her stomach, thinking there’s something bad, but then he smiles. “We’re having a birthday party today. _Your_ birthday party.”

Her eyes shoot wide. “A birthday party?” she breathes, amazed.

Jay’s smile goes bigger. “Happy birthday, Carrot-top. You wanna go to a party? Alfred is making your favorites and Uncle Roy and Aunt Kori are coming.”

“Will there be presents?” she asks, breathless in awe. She’s never had a birthday party before. Not that she can remember, anyway. But she’s seen them on TV and there are _always_ presents.

“Presents and _cake_.”

Lisa leaps on him, so excited she can barely breathe. “Let’s go! Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!”

Jason laughs and wraps his arms around her, picking her up. “Alright, Princess Lissie-Beth.”

Frustration spikes through her. “ _Jay jay!_ It’s my birthday! You can’t call me that!”

Jay laughs again. “Alright, alright.”

She always loves the ride out to grandpa Alfred’s. Riding on Jay’s motorcycle is so much fun and he can go faster the closer they get. He said something about getting a car a couple of weeks ago, so he can take her places in the winter time, but Lisa doesn’t want to stop riding the motorcycle. She doesn’t think she’ll mind it just because it’s cold, but Jay doesn’t like it when she’s cold.

She feels her excitement pick up as the house comes into view. There are purple, blue and green balloons attached to the columns on the porch. She points to them excitedly.

“Looks like Alfred’s decorated it up nice for you, princess,” he says as they pull to a stop.

Aunt Steph throws open the door as they get off the motorcycle. “Happy birthday, Lisa!” she exclaims, picking Lisa up in a big hug, then before she knows it, she’s on Aunt Steph’s back and being carried through the door.

“Hey, hold up there, Blondie,” Jay calls, following.

“God, Jay, you’ve had her all morning, quit hogging the birthday girl!”

Jay does his grumpy grumble. “God, you’re the worst.”

Lisa giggles, but doesn’t protest as she’s carried into one of the sitting rooms. There’s a sudden, loud exclamation of “ _Happy Birthday!”_ from all around and Lisa flinches down automatically. There are a _lot_ of people in the room.

In a quick moment Jay has her in his arms and she hides her face against his chest for a second. “It’s alright, Lisa,” he promises quietly. “You know everyone here. They’re just excited to see you.

Lisa nods, lifting her head up so she can see. She knows, it was just a lot all at once and she wasn’t ready. But as she looks around to see who all is there, she can’t help but get excited again.

Uncle Roy comes up in front of Jay and reaches his arms around them both so that he can hug her and Jay at the same time. “Happy birthday, Princess!” Lisa laughs because it’s funny and it makes Jay do the grouchy thing.

“Hey, hands off, asshole!”

But Uncle Roy laughs and holds on tighter, and then Uncle Wing comes up from the side and does the same thing, saying, “Oh that looks fun!”

“No, don’t—damn it, Dick! Let go! Both of you!”

“Master Jason, please watch your language. There is a young lady present,” Grandpa Alfred says in his stern voice and Uncle Roy sing songs, “ _Jaybird got in trouble_!”

Uncle Wing laughs, Lisa giggles and Jay growls furiously.

“I am going to shoot you both so damn hard.”

Uncle Roy laughs again and gives him a big kiss on the cheek before letting go and doing the same to Lisa. Uncle Wing dances away from the one armed swipe Jay makes at him and goes to stand by Grandpa Alfred. Which is definitely the smartest place for him to stand, Lisa thinks. Uncle Wing is _very_ smart.

She pats Jay’s shoulder consolingly, but also because she’s okay now and is ready to get down. Jay sets her on her feet and she grins up at Uncle Roy and Aunt Kori as they ruffle her hair and tell her happy birthday. Then there’s Aunt Steph, Aunt Cass and Aunt Barbara, and then Uncle Timmy, and Grandpa Bruce and Grandpa Alfred. Even Damian tells her happy birthday.

They eat in the fancy dining room and Lisa gets to sit in the middle. There are balloons tied to the back of her chair and Aunt Steph gives her a birthday crown to wear. After lunch, they all go outside to play a game Uncle Wing calls Robin Tag. There are water balloons, water guns and nerf guns, and a lot of yelling and running and flips. Aunt Kori flies her through the air helping her tag people. It’s super fun, but then Jay, Uncle Wing, Uncle Roy and Damian end up in a wrestling match on the ground. She giggles in Aunt Kori’s arms and Uncle Timmy films it from his spot by Aunt Steph with Aunt Cass smiling on her back. Aunt Barbara is over by Alfred and she looks like she’s filming it too.

Uncle Wing laughs as he easily slips around whoever tries to grab him and Uncle Jay swears as he tries to shove his face into the ground. Damian and Uncle Roy are shouting at each other, but Lisa can’t tell what they’re saying because it’s from within a big pile of arms and legs.

Grandpa Bruce stands by Alfred and frowns. “Three of you should have much better form than this.”

“Shut up, Bruce!” Jay snaps, getting a hand on Uncle Wing’s face and shoving him away. Uncle Wing tries to say something too, but Jay’s hand is halfway over his mouth so Lisa can’t understand him.

“Harper gets a pass because he was trained by Oliver—!”

“ _Hey_!” Uncle Roy shouts.

“—but I expect better from the rest of you.”

“Oh yeah? How bout I come over there and _show_ you better?!” Jay snaps, trying to push away from the others, but Uncle Wing lunges, hitting Uncle Roy with an elbow and halfway squishing a squawking Damian.

“Now, now, Little Wing, don’t let Bruce bait you like that,” Uncle Wing says, wrapping himself around Jay.

Lisa supposes Uncle Roy was right about Jay and Grandpa Bruce fighting a lot.

“Besides,” Uncle Wing adds with the kind of grin she usually sees on Jay’s face. “Bruce is getting pretty old. You wouldn’t want him to accidentally break a hip.”

“ _Ooooh_!” Aunt Steph gasps delightedly as Uncle Timmy swings the camera around to point at Grandpa Bruce. “Shots fired.”

Grandpa Bruce glares down at them, and Jay, who’s still on the ground with Uncle Wing wrapped around him, smirks up at Bruce. “Oh yeah, old man? You gonna break a hip?”

“I could take you both,” he growls.

“What do you say, Dickie? B thinks he can take us both. Wanna test it?” Jay asks with a sharp grin, and Lisa sits up excitedly, hoping to get to see Jay fight.

Uncle Wing is looking at Grandpa Bruce now too, and Lisa can tell he’s thinking about it, because he’s not holding on to Jay quite so tight anymore.

“That’s quite enough,” Alfred steps in, doing the stern voice again, much to Lisa’s disappointment. “We still have cake and presents to get to. Everyone inside, change into some dry clothes, and we shall reconvene in the dining room.”

There’s a lot of grumbling, but it’s not too big a loss, she decides. Cake and presents are pretty exciting too. And besides, she knows Jay would have won. “Daddy woulda won,” she tells Aunt Kori confidently.

She hums. “I think so too, little one. Your father is ruthless when he needs to be, and he knows your grandfather’s weaknesses.”

Lisa nods, happy Aunt Kori agrees.

She changes into the clothes Jay packed in her backpack and is the first one back to the dining room. Alfred has the cake down in the middle of the table and Lisa looks at it with wide eyes. It’s the biggest cake she’s ever seen and it’s shiny, decorated with stars and planets and swirling colors. It looks like the stories of space that Aunt Kory, Uncle Roy and Jay tell her.

“What do you think, Mistress Elisabeth?” Alfred asks her as he brings in a stack of plates and forks. “Your father said you would like this one.”

She looks up at him with wide eyes. “It’s too pretty to eat.”

Alfred smiles at her as he sets the plates down. He pulls out a camera. “Never fear, my dear. I will be sure to take plenty of pictures before we cut into it.”

Lisa nods, relaxing a little. “Okay then.”

The cake tastes just as good as it looks, but Jay will only let her eat one piece. Alfred promises to pack the rest up to take home with them, so Lisa doesn’t complain too much. And then there are _presents_. She can’t remember the last time she got a real birthday present. And any she had, got left behind when she ran from her papa. And the stack of presents in front of her is more presents than she’s ever had in her _whole life_. She can’t help but bounce in excitement as Uncle Roy and Aunt Kori take two out of the stack and hand them to her. One’s a stuffed penguin and the other is a stuffed polar bear. They’re both really, really soft and she hugs them to her chest.

“This is just the first part of your present,” Uncle Roy tells her, making her look up. “You, me, Aunt Kori, and your daddy are going to the zoo tomorrow to see _real_ penguins and polar bears. Together. In the _same_ place. _Without_ having to go the Arctic circle or Antarctica.”

“Really?” she asks, excitedly looking at Jay. He’s rolling his eyes, but he does that a lot around Uncle Roy so she doesn’t worry. She went to the zoo once with her mom and it was really fun.

“Yeah, kiddo. We’re having an Outlaw zoo day.”

“ _Awesome_.”

Aunt Barbara, Aunt Steph, and Aunt Cass give her their presents together. She gets ballet clothes from Aunt Barbara, ballerina slippers from Aunt Cass, and a purple tutu from Aunt Steph. She runs to put them on, and then Aunt Barbara tells her they talked with Jay and got her signed up for lessons and she jumps up and down in excitement. She’s going to be a _real_ ballerina.

Jay and Damian fight for a little while because Damian wants to give her a sword, but Jay won’t let him.

“No sharp weapons! She’s _seven_!”

“Exactly! She’s behind in her training!”

“What’s wrong with the practice swords?!”

“It lacks authenticity! How will she get used to the weight and feel of a true sword? Your childish rules are holding her back. How will she reach her potential?”

“ _No sharp weapons_.”

Grandpa Bruce eventually steps in and Damian has to give her a “backup” present. She opens it up to find a pack of paper and pastels. She smiles, “Thanks, Dami!”

Damian does the scowl thing he does whenever she calls him Dami. “My name is _Damian_.” But then explains, “If you’re ever going to get better at art, you need the proper tools. These are the finest quality paper and pastels, though I fear I will have to instruct you on how to use them properly.”

“You’ll teach me how to draw as good as you?” Lisa asks, because she wants to draw Titus like he does, but even _better_.

“I’ll teach you, but it’s doubtful you’ll achieve my level.”

Lisa rolls her eyes, even more determined to be better than him at _something_.

Alfred gives her a book called _The Secret Garden._ It has a hard, green cover with pretty gold leaves on it, and there are colorful pictures inside. Jay promises to read it with her.

Then Uncle Wing wheels in a bicycle with a bow on it and promises to teach her how to ride it.

“We live in an _apartment_ , Dick,” Jay says.

“It’s for when she’s _here_ , Little Wing,” Uncle Wing replies.

And Uncle Timmy gives her a fancy tablet. She opens it and he sits beside her to help her set it up.

“Oh my god, Tim. She’s _seven_. She doesn’t need a tablet!” Jay fusses.

Uncle Timmy rolls his eyes. “It’s 2018, Jason. Seven-year-old’s have tablets.” None of the kids Lisa knows have tablets, but she keeps her mouth shut because she wants to keep hers. “Besides, Lisa already knows how to use them.” Which is true, thanks to Uncle Timmy. She can kind of use a computer now too.

“That’s not the point, Tim! She’s seven! What does she need a tablet for?”

“Games, movies, Netflix, YouTube, hacking into her school file,” Tim shrugs. “Lot’s of things. Don’t worry though. I set up parental locks.”

Jay grumbles angrily and rubs his face before looking down at her. She holds the tablet to her chest and looks up at him hopefully.

“Damn it,” he sighs. “Fine, but we’re going to have _rules_ , Carrot-top. You’re not going to be able to be on that thing all day every day.”

Lisa smiles wide, happy she gets to keep it. “Okay!”

“So glad to know Damian isn’t the only one who needs lectures on age appropriate gifts,” Jay grumbles darkly, but Uncle Timmy just winks at her.

Grandpa Bruce says his birthday present for her is upstairs, so they all go up to the room Lisa slept in when they spent the night. There’s a big bow on the door and Grandpa Bruce smiles down at her. “You can open it,” he tells her softly.

Lisa opens the door and gasps. Everything about the room is completely different now. The walls are green and on one wall there’s trees and flowers painted there, there’s a big white bed with a canopy on it and a bench with cushions by the window and a book shelf with lots of books. The closet is open and she can see clothes and shoes, and there’s fairy lights across the ceiling. Lisa stares, amazed.

Uncle Wing peaks his head in and lets out a low whistle. “How come it’s the girls who are always the favorites?”

“Objection!” Aunt Steph calls. “Let’s not even pretend I’ve ever been a contender there. Cass, Babs, and Lisa are the favorites. I’m lumped in with you lot.”

“What the fuck, Bruce?!” Jay snaps, cutting off the conversation, and Lisa turns around, worried, because that was his angry voice and not his grumpy voice. They’re _different_. When Jay is angry it’s usually because of something bad, which is different from the normal things that just make him grumpy. “You didn’t think of maybe _asking_ me before you did this?”

“What’s wrong?” Grandpa Bruce frowns.

“First off, she likes _space_ princesses,” he says hiking a thumb down the hall at Aunt Kori, “not fairy princesses. Second, this is kind of a really big present and I would have liked to know about it beforehand.”

“Fairy princesses are okay too,” Lisa says softly, because she doesn’t want Grandpa Bruce to be upset, but Jay is still angry and she doesn’t know why.

Grandpa Bruce frowns more. “I thought we agreed. She’s going to need a room anyway, so I wanted her have her own.”

“ _I haven’t talked to her about it yet, Bruce_!” Jay snaps and Lisa’s eyes go wide with fear. Why would she need a room here? Is she not going to be with Jay anymore? She thinks about how he’s been weird lately. About how he’s been quieter around her and her heart starts to race. He’s leaving. He’s leaving her here. She likes it here and she likes Alfred, and Grandpa Bruce, and everyone else, but she wants to be with _Jay_. He _can’t_ leave her!

“Daddy?” she asks, quiet and terrified.

Jay looks down at her and immediately swears. “Shit. All of you get out. Now,” he barks over his shoulder and doesn’t wait for the door to shut before he drops down to his knees in front of her. “Hey, it’s alright,” he promises in the same voice he uses when she wakes up from nightmares. “I was just annoyed with Bruce. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Lisa jumps at him and wraps her arms tightly around his neck, burying her head against him. She starts to cry.

“God, Lisa, I’m so sorry,” he says, voice sounding rough as he wraps his arms tightly around her. “I’m not angry at you, I was angry at Bruce. You know I’d never hurt you, right? Princess, I’d _never.”_

Lisa stops crying for a second because that doesn’t make any sense. Why would she think he would hurt her? She’s upset because he’s going to _leave_.

“Don’t leave!” she says, not taking her face away from his neck.

He pauses. “Don’t what?”

“Don’t leave me!” she cries again, sobbing now. “I don’t want to stay here with Grandpa Bruce, I want to stay with _you_!”

“I— _what_?”

“I don’t care if I have a room, I want to be with you! I don’t mind sleeping on the couch! I don’t want you go to! You can’t! You promised!”

He pulls her away from him and she looks up at him through tears, trying really hard to stop sobbing. “Lisa, honey, I’m not going anywhere.”

“Huh?” she hiccups.

“I’m not leaving. Why did you think I was leaving?”

“Grandpa Bruce gave me a room, but I want to stay with _you_!” she says again.

“ _Dammit, Bruce_ ,” Jay swears lowly before looking at her seriously. “You are going to come stay here, but so am I.”

That’s enough to make Lisa’s tears pause and she sniffles, confused, and rubs the tears from her eyes. “Huh?”

“I wanted to do this better. This uh… it’s going to be your birthday present from me. If you… if you want to, that is. You don’t have to. It’s up to you, okay? Your decision. But if you want to…”

Lisa frowns up at him. She doesn’t know what he’s saying. Whether she’s staying there or why. “If I want to what?”

Jay takes a breath and looks her in the eye. “Ms. Camille said I can adopt you. And I want to. So if you want it too, you can come live with me. Forever.”

Lisa’s breath hitches in her lungs and she launches herself at Jason, squeezing him as tight as she can manage. “Yesyesyesyesyes!” she tells him in a quick babble.

Jay laughs hugging her back. “Yeah? You’re sure?”

“ _Yes_!”

“Alright, then I’ll tell Ms. Camille and hopefully we can get all the paperwork and everything done soon and you can come live with me.”

“Forever?”

“Forever.”

She almost starts crying again, she’s so happy. But something is still confusing her. “If I’m going to live with you, why are we going to live here?”

“I’m going to have to redo the loft before we can live there together,” he tells her. “You’ll need your own room. You can’t sleep on the couch forever. So while I’m working on getting all that done, we’ll both stay here.”

“Even though you and Grandpa Bruce fight?”

Jay nods. “Even though.” Then he frowns. “But I meant what I said earlier. Even if I fight with Grandpa Bruce, or even if I’m angry, I will _never_ hurt you. Okay?”

Lisa rolls her eyes. “ _Duh_!”

Jay looks surprised. “What did you just say to me?”

“ _Duh_. It’s what you say when somebody says something you already know,” she informs him smartly.

“Oh my god,” he says, putting his head in his hands. “Who taught you that? You’re seven. Too early for this.”

Lisa just giggles, and Jay snakes his arms around her. “Come here, you little squirt,” he says, yanking her off the ground and tickling her. She shrieks and flails in his arms, trying to get him to stop. He does eventually, and she has to wipe more tears away, but this time from laughter.

“Alright, kiddo. You want to go back and join the party now?”

She nods her head and Jason puts her down and opens the door. Grandpa Bruce is standing there, but everyone else has gone. Lisa jumps at him and gives him a big hug when he catches her. “Thanks for my present.”

“You’re welcome. I’m sorry, Lisa. I didn’t mean to scare you,” he says, hugging her back even though he looks kind of confused. Surely he knows what hugs are. She holds on for another couple of seconds though, just to be sure. When she lets go she tells him happily, “That’s okay. Daddy’s going to adopt me!”

Grandpa Bruce smiles. “He is and we’re very happy.” He then looks at Jason. “I’m sorry.”

Jay still looks annoyed, but Lisa looks up at him, trying to let him know she didn’t want them to fight anymore. Jay looks at her and sighs. “Fine. Look, I know with all your money, things like this don’t seem like that big a deal to you, but they are. So just check with me before you pull any grand gestures or other crap. She’s my kid, not yours, so if you’re planning on doing anything else over the top, like buying her a freaking pony or something, you need my say so first. Okay?”

Grandpa Bruce nods. “Okay.”

Lisa looks up at Jay with wide eyes. “ _Can I have a pony?_ ”

“No,” he says sternly as they all start walking back towards the stairs. “We live in an apartment. Where would we keep a pony?”

“It could stay here,” Grandpa Bruce offers. “Christmas is only a couple of months away.”

“Bruce, I swear to god,” Jason snaps at him.

“It’s just a thought,” he replies easily. “You know it’s the grandparents job to spoil them, right?”

“It’s the grandparents job to respect the decisions of the parent,” Jay bites back.

“I am. Technically, the pony was your idea.”

Jay groans loudly and Lisa laughs as she walks between them down the stairs. She thinks there’s a really good chance she could have a pony for Christmas.


End file.
